Utah voters ranked healthcare as the fourth most important issue of concern on Utah Foundation’s 2008 Utah Priorities Project survey. The high ranking of healthcare reflects Utah voters’ concerns with the current health system. This research report reviews some of the major problems underlying the current system, summarizes Utah’s initial steps for reform, and identifies the issues that need to be resolved for real systemic reform to take place at the state level.
Based on common themes from health system stakeholder interviews, six issues that need to be addressed for real systemic reform include: 1) navigating the federal system; 2) re-aligning stakeholder incentives; 3) improving on the market system; 4) defining affordability; 5) dealing with tradeoffs among cost, quality, and access; and 6) improving the reform process.
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